Stage sensation "Wakaa!" becomes first Nigerian musical to hit London

By Thomas Page, for CNN

Updated 7:27 AM ET, Wed March 16, 2016

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Photos:Nigeria on stage

"Wakaa! The Musical" is to become the first Nigerian musical to transition to London's West End in July. Producer Bolanle Austen-Peters is hoping that after a popular opening stint in Lagos, English audiences will welcome the production with open arms.

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Photos:Nigeria on stage

It's the second musical by Austen-Peters, who first tried her hand at the genre two years ago with "Saro." The musical tells the story of a group of Nigerian graduates, tracing their paths after making a wager at their ceremony. A satire and social commentary, it addresses issues faced by millennial Nigerians and their wider political context.

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Photos:Nigeria on stage

Austen-Peters says that 10,000 people watched "Wakaa!" over the course of 12 performances around the new year. It was so popular people were offering to pay to stand in the aisles. "We can rival any of the big institutions in the world," the producer argues, and hopes Nigeria's burgeoning musical industry will go on to even bigger things.

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The producer was inspired to start making musicals after watching a performance of "Fela!" on Broadway. The hit show inspired by the late Afrobeat icon transferred to London and was performed in Lagos in 2011.

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"For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf" is one of the most acclaimed plays to come from the 1970s. Written by American Ntozake Shange (above), it was adapted for Nigerian audiences by Wole Oguntokun and staged in2011, before being revived in 2014.

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In 2013 actor Inua Ellams performed "The 14th Tale" at the Lagos Theater Festival. The production was a free flowing narrative about the funny exploits of a natural born mischief, growing from the streets of Nigeria to the roof tops of Dublin, and finally to London.

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Nigerian dancer and choreographer Qudus Onikeku (left) and Cameroonian actor Emil Abossolo perform a scene of Onikeku's creation "Qaddish" at the Salle Benoit XII in Avignon, as part of the 67th international theater festival.

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Directed by Germans Helgard Haug, Stefan Kaegi and Daniel Wetzel, "Lagos Business Angels" brought together businessmen and women from Nigeria and Europe at the Avignon Film Festival. Inspired by a Goldman Sachs report that said Nigeria's economy would overtake France, South Korea and Canada by 2050, the production looked how how relations with global market forces would develop.

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Story highlights

After performing to 10,000 people in Lagos, "Wakaa! The Musical" is traveling to the UK

Opening on July 22, 2016 at the Shaw Theatre, producer Bolanle Austen-Peters hopes to attract a new group of fans